Caudry history
Smaller than its neighbour, Cambrai, the town of Caudry is nevertheless full of interest.
The origins of the city remain difficult to pin-point however it is assumed to date back during the first century of our era.
Whilst Caudry doesn't have the historical notoriety of its famous neighbours, Cambrai and Le Cateau, it nonetheless was linked to their success in history, with notable combats and exactions perpetrated in the area.
The troops of Louis XI invaded Caudry in 1477, those of Henri II in 1553, and those of Louis XIV in 1677.
April 26, 1794, the Convention army fought so violently that a ravine is called the riot deaths.
As a humble village of merely 1926 inhabitants in 1804, nothing seemed to predispose Caudry to become, one century later, an industrial town of 13 000 inhabitants. Well off any significant axis of communication, Caudry is a city born by the industrial revolution and more specifically, the industry of tulles, laces and embroideries.
After the First World War, the majority of the Caudry's manufacturers used the war damages to modernize their production equipment.
The manufacturers and the workmen assimilated new technology of materials and inserted top of the range textiles like fibrane, rayonne, nylon, lurex...
Caudry then specialized in making top-of-the-range laces, which were often made for "Haute Couture" fashion houses.
Made off the back of the textile industry, Caudry was awarded the label "City and creators of art" in 1995. Its Museum has been recognized in 2016 as "Musée de France".
